Obituary of Sau Wah Wong
Sau Wah Wong, of Newton MA passed away peacefully and was surrounded by her family at 85 years old, after years of battling with Parkinson’s disease at the West Arce skilled nursing home in Brockton on March 5th, 2024. She was a strong lady with determination and big dreams for herself and her family. Her biggest dream was to immigrate to the US and become an US citizen, and her dream was finalized and achieved in 2017. She is survived by her husband, Chau Wah Wong and her two children, Eric Wong and Emily Wong.
She was born in Palembang, Indonesia in 1938. When she was 16 years old, she traveled to China on her own to attend medical school with a full scholarship and to avoid an arranged marriage by family members. She graduated from Nanjing Medical College and completed her medical training with honor in 1965 and met her husband, Chau Wah Wong and had two children. Then in 1975, she took the entire family to immigrate to Hong Kong because of the “one child policy” of the Chinese Communist Government so that she would not be forced to give up any one of her children, and also to provide better opportunities for her family. After years of hard works and scarifies, she was finally able to immigrant to the US in 2011 and became an US citizen in 2017, and the whole family was once again reunited and living in MA ever since.
Our beloved mother loved to exercise, dancing, music and travel around the world and she will be missed dearly.
Memoire: The journey of courage & scarifies
Deep in the calmest corner of my heart and soul is the precious memory of a very unusual lady – she was the light house of strength and perseverance – our mother. With her intelligence and circumspection, our mother created her own path in this often-treacherous life journey, which has left an imprint on our soul forever.
Our mother had big dreams and goals since she was little and always did all she can in her power to achieve them. When opportunities presented themself, and it did not matter how difficult or impossible as she was told by many others, she pursued them with all her heart. She wanted knowledges and be successful.
Our mother loved to seek knowledge and valued education all her life, and we can say that her life journey really set sailed when she was awarded with a full medical scholarship from one of the top medical schools in China. And the only way to get to this dream was to travel alone by boat to the heart of China and to study there by herself, far away from her birthplace in Indonesia at a very young age. Despite all the risks and dangers during the journey in the big open ocean and the loneliness studying in China being far away from her family, mother’s determinations did not falter. And after years of studies and hard works and trainings, our mother not only acquired the knowledge and techniques that were needed to graduate medical school with top honor, and she also became a famous and empathic medical doctor and a soul healer in China in the 60’s.
Faced with the uncertain political situation in China, and with a better opportunity presented to her, our very brave mother once again embraced this challenge and changed her life plan. Wanted to seek a better future for my sister and I, our mother had to let go her very successful career in practicing medicine and gave up her fame and fortunes of being a famous doctor in China and started from the bottom with virtually nothing when we moved to Hong Kong in 1975.
They say time is like a river and for our mother time is ruthless as mother’s once delicate and skillful hands of an accomplished surgeon turned rough and stiff before our eyes because of the hard works. But she didn’t regret and never complained to any of us. She scarified herself to protect us from any harms and she was constantly teaching us to be strong and kind and dare to dream big,
and no matter how tough and difficult the situations are to always keep our faith and goals.
We all remember her laughter and her dancing in our humble home could make all the shadows and sadness disappeared. Each dish that she had ever made for us smelled so nice and tasted liked music from the orchestra! Her once skillful surgeon hands had become the hands to make dough for noodle dishes and to wipe dry her tears over the long and hard-working decades. But no matter, our mother had been the anchor of our family and our lighthouse during the darkest hours.
As days turned into years and decades, my sister and I grew up as well, and with education and hard work opportunities also bloomed like cherry blossom for the two of us. Our mother’s unconditional love to the family and perseverance had provided us with better a life, so we could hold our heads up and peruse our own dreams. She did not ask more wealth or fame for herself; she just wanted us to live a happy and meaningful life. Her dreams and ours had merged and cannot be separated.
Then with a terrible turn for her health, she suffered a stroke and the Parkinson’s diseases few years after. Her body betrayed her. Her arms & legs became limp, and the disease stole her voice too and she turned silence. The nursing home had become her refuge, home, a place with sterile walls and fluorescent lights. Even at the nursing home in poor conditions, her spirit would still shine. She smiled at my sister and I and her eyes were filled with memories.
Day after day, month after month and year after year, we visited her at the nursing home. Our hearts filled with words that we haven’t had the chance to tell her, but when she held our hands, her eyes told us about our precious memories in Hong Kong; watching sunrise and sun set, the jasmine flowers in our garden and the taste of the dumpling that she made, and we are loved. She was and will forever be our compass for love and determination.
Then in one quiet night, she let the God’s infinite wisdom to bring her home. She was gone and left us quietly. My Dad and my sister and I stood around her, the room felt so empty all a sudden and the air was getting thinner. But the gift that she left behind could still be felt and like an echo of her braveness, which deeply imprinted in our hearts.
we wonder if she is watching over us from the carpet in heaven. Maybe she would smile, knowing that all her scarifies had been repaid. All the memories of a beloved, tenacious, and elegant lady from a strict family – our mother.
We will miss our mother but will always remember that she taught us even in the darkest night the stars will always shine and be bright.
